Chapter 52
Lone Sword Xie Xingzhi was a proud and noble person.
As a young man, he joined the old man Chi Song of Chaotian Mountain as a mortal and devoted himself to studying swordsmanship. His powerful sword technique could shake the world.
But he was different from the high and mighty image that others had of Lone Sword.
The truth about Lone Sword Xie Xingzhi.
He was quite proud and cared about his reputation.
Perhaps because he had spent too much time on the mountain, he mostly focused on his sword and didn't excel in social skills. Lone Sword Xie Xingzhi's mind wasn't very sharp when it came to worldly matters.
This was probably the umpteenth time he had been fooled.
But this was undoubtedly the most humiliating time.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself completely stripped and tied to a chair in a extremely humiliating position. Xie Xingzhi looked at the masked individuals around him in shock and anger, and angrily shouted, "Who are you?!"
Qiao Wan raised her knife and menacingly repeated, "Tell us, do you want the storage bag or your brother?!"
Xie Xingzhi's gaze fell on Qiao Wan.
Even Qiao Wan couldn't help but tremble under the scrutiny of that gaze.
Yao Guang and Yu Sanniang silently moved away.
Bai Jingmen secretly gave them a signal: "Keep going."
Qiao Wan tightened her grip on the knife, her fierce expression revealing her inner hesitation. She continued to shout, "Hurry up and speak!"
Xie Xingzhi's eyes were icy as he asked, "Did you deceive me?"
It seemed unbelievable that the gentle and humble mortal woman had transformed into such a fierce and ruthless person.
Qiao Wan mustered her courage and said, "Yes."
Xie Xingzhi's eyes turned cold, "Do you have an older brother?"
She did have an older brother.
Qiao Wan nodded, "Yes."
Xie Xingzhi asked, "Are you after money or seeking revenge?"
Qiao Wan replied, "People die for money, birds die for food. Of course, I'm here for the money!"
Qiao Wan tightly gripped the knife, threatening fiercely, "Yes! Stop talking nonsense! If you don't hand over the magical items in the storage bag, I will chop off your brother!"
Veins bulged on Xie Xingzhi's forehead, but he controlled himself, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reluctantly said, "The storage bag is in my palm."
Qiao Wan gave a signal with her eyes, urging Bai Jingmen to quickly step forward and take out the storage bag from Xie Xingzhi's grasp, following his instructions. They got it in their hands.
Qiao Wan and Bai Jingmen swallowed their saliva, quickly pouring it out and taking a look. Even though Xie Xingzhi had been defeated, not a single thread of cloth hung on him, and he still exuded a noble and righteous aura.
"You can take the spirit stone and magical artifact," Xie Xingzhi said coldly, "but leave the key behind."
When entrusted with something, it must be carried out to the end. Only the key can't be taken away.
Seeing Xie Xingzhi in his proud state, Qiao Wan tightly clenched the key and felt a bit reluctant, "Sorry, I was just deceiving you earlier."
"We are not here for wealth."
Qiao Wan said, "This is what we want."
Xie Xingzhi trembled all over, his eyes slightly opened, and in an instant, a murderous aura filled the air!
The overwhelming pressure and killing intent made Yao Guang and Bai Jingmen take two steps back.
Yao Guang nervously asked, "Now that we have the key, what do we do? Do we just leave Xie Xingzhi alone?"
"No, of course not," Qiao Wan replied.
Saying this, she bent down and picked up the door latch from the ground.
Yao Guang, Yu Sanniang, and Bai Jingmen all widened their eyes, watching Qiao Wan raise the door latch high towards Xie Xingzhi's head.
Under the fearful gazes of Yao Guang and the others.
Bang!!
Qiao Wan swung the door latch down, hitting Xie Xingzhi.
A trickle of blood ran down the man's forehead, and his eyes coldly stared at Qiao Wan.
The look in his eyes can't be described as anything other than "deep affection," as if he wanted to carve the young girl deep into his heart.
Qiao Wan was stunned, looking at Xie Xingzhi's bleeding forehead, the hand holding the door latch trembled, "Are you okay?"
Was it the effect of the medicine wearing off?
What kind of terrifying recovery ability is this? Bai Jingmen thought in shock.
Yao Guang and Yu Sanniang exchanged glances and saw the fear and unease in each other's eyes.
"Will Xie Xingzhi be killed by her blow?"
"What if he actually dies?"
Qiao Wan's level of shock was no less than Bai Jingmen.
She was afraid that hitting Xie Xingzhi with the door latch might kill him, so she deliberately used less force.
Qiao Wan didn't expect Xie Xingzhi's head to be so strong.
In any case, she had already offended Xie Xingzhi by hitting him twice, and she didn't care about doing it one more time.
Qiao Wan made up her mind and raised the door latch once again!
Bang!
This time, she found the right amount of strength and knocked Xie Xingzhi unconscious.
Yao Guang felt his legs go weak, and he raised his hand to touch his mask, feeling the coolness of it, which brought him some relief.
Even with ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare provoke Xie Xingzhi. Yao Guang secretly glanced at Qiao Wan.
This girl in front of him seemed to be just an ordinary cultivator in the early stage of Qi training, but under the pressure of Xie Xingzhi, she remained unruffled. Then thinking about her ever-present grimacing mask, the unknown face behind the mask, and the bloody giant iron hammer.
Yao Guang shivered.
This Taoist Friend Lu is probably not that simple, and most importantly, she must not be provoked.
Otherwise, even if you are a skilled fighter like Lone Sword, she will beat you up.
Since we have obtained the key, the next step is to go underground to find Jiang Kai.
After a brief thought, Qiao Wan looked up and said, "We don't need so many people to go to the treasure vault, I can go alone."
Bai Jingmen was a little concerned and said, "Miss Lu, are you sure you can go alone? Maybe I should go instead."
Qiao Wan reached into her pocket and pulled out two hammers.
These two hammers are made of special materials, they can be used for big or small tasks, and when they are tucked in her pocket, they look like lollipops.
Qiao Wan held up the two lollipops and shook her head seriously, indicating that Bai Jingmen shouldn't worry.
Bai Jingmen's mouth twitched.
In fact, after that day, Liang Yiqing and a few others privately discussed Lu Wan.
The conclusion they came to was that Lu Wan was not ordinary, but they could befriend her.
Out of all of them, Lu Wan was indeed the most capable.
"I will use the Sound Passing Talisman to inform you if there's something, there are guards below the dungeon. It's better for me to go alone with the key, having too many people might raise suspicion."
After saying that, Qiao Wan stuffed the hammers into her pocket and left the private room, returning to the Eight Treasures Pavilion.
Bai Jingmen and the others were left looking at Xie Xingzhi, who was lying unconscious on the ground, feeling a little worried.
The treasure vault of the Bodhisattva Society is located beneath the Eight Treasures Pavilion, it is said to have a secret passage guarded by someone every day.
The auction upstairs had begun, and the treasures in the vault had already been moved out. The vault itself had been locked, so most of the guards had gone upstairs.
The noise of the cheering crowd above was isolated by the underground floor.
The auction was nearing its end, Qiao Wan pursed her lips, realizing that time was running out.
Qiao Wan walked down the secret passage and was immediately stopped by the guard at the entrance of the vault.
"What are you doing?" the guard reached out and blocked her.
Qiao Wan smiled and raised her lips, "The master told me to go into the private vault to get something."
"Something? What are you getting? Don't you have the Access Jade Token?"
"Without the Access Jade Token, no one can enter."
Qiao Wan continued to lie with a straight face, "The master is in a rush and forgot to give it to me."
The guard stared, "No Access Jade Token, then get lost!"
Qiao Wan reached into her pocket and took out the key, waving it in front of the guard, "Although I don't have the Access Jade Token, how about you take a look at this?"
"What is this?" The guard was bewildered, took the key, and examined it closely several times.
This is the key to the private vault.
"The master is currently upstairs." Qiao Wan snatched the key back and pointed to the ceiling, sneering, "If there's a delay, can you bear the responsibility?"
The key shimmered, reflecting the golden light from the candle flame.
That being said, the guard finally showed a hint of hesitation on his face, beckoning her to go in.
Lastly, a reminder was given.
"Only take what you're supposed to take."
Qiao Wan headed straight into the treasure vault, took a deep breath, and quickly scanned the room with her eyes.
Nothing.
Apart from piles of treasures, there was not a single person.
Jiang Kai should be in the private vault.
Moving forward, there was another iron door.
That should be the so-called private vault of the Bodhisattva Society.
To everyone's surprise, in front of the iron gate, there were no guards in sight.
Tan Tianjiao didn't believe that the key he had entrusted to Lone Sword Xie Xingzhi would end up in the wrong hands.
Qiao Wan took out the key and opened the door to the private vault.
With a creak, the door opened.
Before her eyes were flickering candles.
The light of the candles made Qiao Wan widen her eyes.
The treasure room was different from what she had imagined, it was filled with large iron cages.
And inside these iron cages were...
People!
The stone floor was covered in bloodstains and smelled terrible.
In each of the large iron cages were "people."
Not far away, there was even a pool of blood with mutilated body parts floating in it.
As the noise reached their ears, the people in the cages looked up one by one and stared back at Qiao Wan.
The whole private vault suddenly came alive, and everyone rushed towards the cage doors.
Being stared at by so many people, Qiao Wan suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
Why did the Bodhisattva Society lock up so many people in the private vault? What were they planning to do?
Each person in these cages, men and women, had their own stories. Some were intact, dressed fairly neatly, while others were missing limbs and covered in dark, dirty blood.
Suddenly, from one of the cages, there was a clanking sound of iron chains followed by tears of joy. "You!! You are not from the Bodhisattva Society! Who are you?!"
Qiao Wan looked up.
She found Bai Hehua, whom she had seen on the street before, in one of the cages.
Bai Hehua had lost the confident look she had on the street. She was disheveled and on the verge of breaking down. Seeing Qiao Wan's different appearance from the people of the Bodhisattva Society, she looked at her as if she had found a lifesaver.
"You! Let me out quickly! I'll give you all the spirit stones and artifacts!"
"Hurry up!!"
Qiao Wan clenched the key in her hand and scanned the area. "Do you know a man named Jiang Kai? He's in his twenties, thin, and has three moles on his forehead?"
Bai Hehua replied, "I haven't seen him! Please, let me out! If you let me out, you can have all the spirit stones!"
Realizing she couldn't get any useful information, Qiao Wan turned around and walked away.
She circled the private vault and finally found the young man in a corner cage.
He had fainted and lay on the floor of the cage.
Qiao Wan released her spiritual power to check on him and breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, he was still alive.
Retracting her spiritual power, Qiao Wan inserted the key into the lock.
She turned it.
But it wouldn't budge.
Qiao Wan's face darkened.
She had gotten the key from Xie Xingzhi, but it seemed that it could only open the door to the private vault, not the locks on the iron cages.
It appeared that the Xie family and Tan Tianjiao didn't fully trust Xie Xingzhi.
"A taoist friend," several of the people locked in the nearby cages suddenly spoke up.
Qiao Wan turned her head and saw a mixture of young and old, men and women in the cages.
"You came to save people or take people?" said a middle-aged man, but his lower half had already disappeared, leaving only the upper half of his body, which was covered in blood and organs.
But even so, he was still alive.
Qiao Wan paused for a moment, put away the key, and said, "To save people."
The man was still alive, with a refined appearance but a tired expression.
Looking into Qiao Wan's eyes, he was filled with despair yet a glimmer of hope.
"Can your taoist friend also take us with you?"
Before coming, she didn't expect to see this kind of situation.
She only came to save Jiang Kai, not so many people.
Facing those eyes, Qiao Wan's throat went dry and she couldn't say a single "no" to destroy the hope in the man's eyes.
Qiao Wan hesitated and said, "To save people."
"To save everyone."
"Just wait." Qiao Wan stepped forward and approached the cage where Baihehua was.
"Tell me, what's going on here? How did you all end up locked in here?"
Seeing Qiao Wan turning around and leaving, Baihehua became a bit scared and didn't make a noise.
"I am not ungrateful. You saved my life, and I will have my servants bring spirit stones to you in return."
Qiao Wan asked, "What's going on here?"
Baihehua replied, "What?"
Qiao Wan asked again, "What's happening down here?"
"What's happening?" Baihehua sneered. "Just look at it for yourself."
Baihehua gritted her teeth, her face showing a bit of resentment. "I have a pure yin body."
Qiao Wan suddenly understood.
A pure yin body.
Perfect for being a cauldron.
So these people inside the cages, to varying degrees, all have something special about their bodies.
Baihehua lost her previous arrogance and ground her teeth, "My father always wanted to give me to those powerful cultivators as a concubine, so I ran away and wanted to join Kunshan."
Baihehua sneered, a hint of jealousy and resentment flashed in her eyes. "Those of us from small sects sometimes don't live as freely as you wandering cultivators."
"The person you just saw is a ginseng spirit, and those who are missing limbs and legs are wood spirits."
Qiao Wan turned her head and glanced at the man dragging his half body, suddenly a disbelief surged in her heart.
Wood spirits, their flesh and blood can regenerate.
This meant that the people from the Bodhisattva Society were keeping them here, just like cultivating wheat, harvesting them in succession.
Just like the limbs and flesh that were cut off from the ginseng spirit earlier, they can be used as medicine.
Imagining the bloody and cruel scenes, Qiao Wan's hand holding the key tightened, the icy key in her palm became slippery and greasy when soaked in sweat, making her feel nauseous.
Suddenly, a male voice came over.
"That's a human sacrifice."
Qiao Wan turned her head to look.
There was a gentleman sitting in the cage.
Different from the other companions trapped in the cage, the man had no injuries, and had a calm demeanor, his eyes closed to rest.
Qiao Wan asked, "Human sacrifice?"
